Bolts and Dolts
by Astral Snow
Summary: A story that picks up at the end of volume 3, follows Ruby on her quest to save her partner and restore her best friend. Some angst with fluff as well. Some depictions of graphic violence later on. Dedicated to Monty Oum and all members of Crwby past and present. Reviews are highly appreciated.
1. Prologue

PROLOGUE

Penny Polendina 

Penny was ecstatic as her systems booted up, she was going to be fighting _the_ Pyrrha Nikos, one of the best huntresses in training. Fortunately, she had a plan, she knew she needed too; after all Ms. Nikos was probably the most dangerous opponent she could be facing. But she had a plan of action, just like she had a plan of action to convince General Ironwood and her father to let her stay at Beacon. For now all she needed to do was to defeat her opponent.

Perhaps if she could do that she'd be able to convince them to at least let her talk with Ruby more. She hoped her best friend would be up in the stands when she entered the stage, after all this was the same person who taught her that she was real, and that she had a heart, in the metaphorical sense of course. Ruby truly was the best friend anyone could ask for, and she was going to dedicate this match to her friend up in the stands.

The lights were intense as Penny exited the waiting room and stared at the people surrounding the arena. Across from her stood the spartan Pyrrha Nikos, a well renowned warrior, she had easily won every other tournament she participated in; Penny immediately noticed her opponent's frown. It was odd, but not entirely foreign to Penny, she had seen General Ironwood with a similar expression once before.

It was obvious her opponent was worried and her head was not entirely focused on the battle ahead, so she decided to initiate friendly banter to put their mind somewhat at ease.

"Salutations Pyrrha Nikos, it's an honor to finally meet you." Penny stated, but all it seemed to do was make it worse, Penny decided once more to try again.

"This is going to be so much fun!" and then the timer ended and the Spartan charged the Toy Soldier.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Ruby Rose

Her eyelids felt so heavy, like somebody had forced them closed and tied weights to them. Ruby slowly forced her eyes open, only to quickly shut them as the bright sunlight shined painfully into her room.

Wait, her room? Why was she in her room?

Opening her eyes again and wincing as the bright sunlight assaulted her, she sluggishly took in her surroundings.

She was in a simple bed covered in a blanket with a beowulf pattern printed on it, across the room was a window currently letting in the dumb sun. A couple shelves lined the walls covered with books about weapons, and small statues of grimm on them.

Yep, it was definitely her room in Patch, but why was she here instead in her dorm at Beacon, and why did her head hurt so much?

Ruby racked her brain, but all she could remember was…a blinding white light…and…screaming?

Then it all came flooding back to her…the grimm at beacon, Yang lying on the ground covered in blood, Pyrrha kneeling on the ground, defeated.

One final terrifying vision burned into her mind, bright vibrant emerald normally eyes filled with joy slowing dimming as the color faded from them….

"NO!"

Ruby jolted up in bed, her head instantly making her regret the decision.

She must've been having a nightmare, she had to be, there was no way something happened to Penny, Penny was like the strongest fighter she knew. More importantly Penny was maybe her best friend on the whole entire planet, she was ok, she had to be.

"Ruby?"

She suddenly heard a noise at the door, and relief filled her as the door was flung open, and her dad hurried in.

"Ruby! You're awake!" He rushed over to her bed and pulled into a tight hug

Ruby's head was still spinning, something was off. She still had all these terrible images bouncing through her brain, and looking at her dad she realized he looked terrible, like he had just sat through a 10-hour lecture with Professor Oobleck.

"Dad, what happened? What's going on? Why am I here?" She asked as she returned his head.

"Your Uncle Qrow found you unconscious near Beacon tower after that massive grimm attacked, he brought you back and you left on one of the evacuation bullheads.

The grimm ... the evacuation….it was all real, it wasn't some horrific nightmare. Ruby felt like she had just caught a charging boarbatusk head-on.

"What about everybody else? Yang, Weiss, Blake, Pyr…Pyrrha, Penny?" She was barely able to choke out the names as her eyes quickly began to moisten.

Her dad let out a deep sigh

"Yang is…alright. She's been recovering in her room. She's a strong girl, she'll be fine"

Despite his words, Ruby didn't fail to notice the way is eyes dropped to the ground when he spoke. That didn't make any sense though, Yang was the toughest person Ruby knew, she didn't let anything get her down. As long as she was alive, Yang would be fine, that's just who Yang was.

"As for your teammates…well you might want to ask Yang about that."

He must have seen Ruby's eyes go wide with panic, as he quickly waved his hands.

"No no no, don't worry, they're both alive and unharmed…it's just…well, Yang should explain it."

Whew, Ruby felt her panic ease a tremendous amount as she laid back down on her bed. Of course Blake was ok, she was the unflappable, always composed ninja-girl. Weiss, on the other hand…Weiss had been with Ruby near the tower base…thank Oum she was ok, Ruby didn't know what she would do without her partner.

"As for Pyrrha…well we were hoping you could tell us to be honest. The last time she was seen was heading for the top of the tower, and Qrow didn't see any trace of her when he found you."

Ruby bolted right back up in bed as she remembered the state she had last seen Pyrrha in.

"We have to go back! Pyrrha was injured, that exchange student from Haven shot her with an arrow, we have to go find her!"

Ruby quickly tried to get up out of her bed, only to have her dad grab her and lie her back down.

"Hold your horses there, you're in no state to be going anywhere right now."

"We need to go back for Pyrrha she's hurt!"

"Calm down Ruby, your Uncle Qrow and a bunch of huntsmen are in Vale right now, searching for survivors who missed the first wave of evacuations. If she's alive, I'm sure they'll find her, and given what I saw of her during the tournament, I wouldn't bet on anything bringing her down."

He was right of course, Pyrrha was practically a warrior-goddess, no way a stupid arrow could have brought her down, Ruby was just tired and probably imagining things, stupid brain.

That one image kept coming back to her though, those dark, lifeless green eyes, too vivid to be imagining, with dread Ruby asked the question she already knew the answer to.

"Dad…what about Penny?"

It came out as barely a whisper, and the way her dad turned away from her shattered her small, fleeting hope.

"I…. I'm so sorry Ruby. It was on all the broadcasts. That poor…girl"

Ruby didn't even notice her dad's hesitation before the word girl. In fact, she doubted she would notice if a charging Ursa came barreling through her wall at that very moment. Penny…. the sweetest, friendliest, most innocent girl…was gone. Ripped apart by the cold world she had so much wonder for.

Ruby felt the tears began to roll down her face as she felt the sorrow well up within her. As she felt her dad's arms wrap around her again, she began to weep.

Ruby didn't know how long it took her to cry all her tears, but as the late afternoon sun came through the window, she wiped her eyes and stood up.

"Are you ok Ruby? I know this is…a lot to take in…I…I'm just glad my two girls are back home safely."

He sighed running his hand down his face

"Just please let me know what I can do to help you"

Looking up at her dad she finally noticed the deep bags under his eyes, and the disheveled mess that was his hair, realizing that he probably hadn't gotten any sleep since that night at Beacon.

She gave him the best smile she could muster at that point, a smile that didn't reach down to her heart. He really was the greatest dad on remnant. Ruby reached over and pulled him into another hug.

"Thanks Dad. I'm doing…I'm ok. I think I need to go talk to Yang though, Is she in her room?"

"Yeah, she's been in there…recovering since Beacon"

Again, confused by the dejected tone of his voice, and the pang of sorrow she saw pass through her dad's eyes, she brushed it off as due to his exhaustion. This was Yang we're talking about! She could come out a train crash in good spirits, she had in fact!

With a pit growing in her stomach as she stepped into the doorway, she took one last look back at her dad staring out the window at the evening sky, before heading into the hallway.

Alright time to find Yang, she'll know what to do, she always does.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Ruby Rose**

Pyrrha, Penny, the grimm attack, her partner missing, Ruby didn't quite know what to think at the moment. All she knew was that Yang was here, and she had to talk to her.

Her legs felt a wobbly as she walked down the hallway towards Yang's room. "That's what you get for sleeping for three days" She chided herself. At least her headache had dulled from a screaming Nevermore to a mildly annoyed swarm of bees.

As she reached the door to Yang's room, Ruby was greeted with the familiar sight of brilliant yellow burning heart stickers and an AchieveMen poster. Smiling a little despite herself, Ruby gave three quick knocks on the door.

"Yang? Are you in there?"

There were a few seconds of silence.

Dad said she'd be in here…maybe she was asleep?

Ruby knocked a little harder this time

"Yang? I'm coming in!"

Ruby opened the door, Yang was here! Sitting on her bed staring out the window at the fading sun.

"Yang!" Ruby began to rush over to her bed, but stopped cold in her tracks when yang turned to face her.

Something was terribly wrong, Yang's eyes were normally two brilliant pools of purple that shined with laughter, but what she saw were two dull distant eyes that seemed to look right past her

Ruby's eyes fell to her arm and…no… Where her arm should have been was a small stump covered with bandages

"Yang…"

She immediately rushed to her sister's side and wrapped her arms around her, squeezing her as hard as should could as she felt more tears build in her eyes.

"Yang…I'm so glad you're ok."

As she released Yang from her hug those out of place eyes glanced up to meet hers

"But…I'm not"

Yang let out a deep sigh and turned away

"It's all gone Ruby…The school and the CCT tower were destroyed…Ozpin is missing...Pyrrha…. Penny…"

Ok, this was bad. She'd never seen her sister like this…but wait, there was something she was avoiding

"Yang…where are Weiss and Blake?"

When Yang noticeably tensed up and looked even further towards the ground, Ruby felt her heart sink…Dad said they were safe…they had to be ok.

"During the evacuation…as the last students were about to leave, a black military airship none of us had ever seen before appeared out of nowhere. It set down right in the middle of the bullhead landing, and a bunch of soldiers armed to the teeth stormed out."

Soldiers? A high-tech airship? Dang, she would've loved to see those…thanks head for conking out on me.

"These soldiers were completely different from the atlas ones, they were dressed head to toe in black, aside from a snowflake emblem on their shoulders"

A snowflake? Oh no…It couldn't be…

"They went straight for Weiss; they said her father had sent them to bring her to safety. Weiss wouldn't go with them though, you were still missing, and she said absolutely refused to leave without you."

Ruby felt a small grin tug at her mouth. She really did have the best partner in the whole world.

"The soldiers though…they didn't want to hear it, they said they weren't leaving without her…Weiss refused again, so they grabbed her and dragged to the ship"

Weiss didn't like to talk about her family too much, but from what little she had said, Ruby was able to gather it was Rocky at best. Poor Weiss…she hoped she was doing Ok, she liked to put on a cold exterior, but Ruby knew deep down she was just as delicate and emotional as the rest of them.

"She tried to resist, but she had just spent the last couple hours wading back into the grimm to find you, she was exhausted. Glynda gave them an earful, but given how much fighting all the teachers had been doing, they weren't in any position to stop them."

Just how powerful was her family? She knew they were rich, but being able to fly a private army across several continents to retrieve one girl was something else entirely.

"But…what about Blake?"

For the first time in this conversation, Yang showed an emotion aside from apathy, and when she turned to Ruby her eyes were no longer a dull purple, but rather a deep red.

"Blake left."

"Left? Yang, what do you mean? I saw her with you just before I left for the tower. Wha-"

"SHE LEFT Ruby!" Yang cut her off

"I lost track of her during the battle. When I found her, there was some White Fang asshole standing over her…someone she told me about. He...he stabbed her, and I obviously charged him. After that...well, the next thing I remember is a flash of red, and waking up, alone in a medical center."

Blake had always been the most reclusive of their team, and the least likely to share her issues with the rest of them. But Ruby didn't believe for a second that Blake would abandon them, a lot like Weiss, Blake cared deeply about her teammates, she just had a different way of showing it.

"There has to be some sort of explanation then, something must've happened to make-"

"No, there doesn't. She left, she abandoned us. Sun saw her go after the battle. She's gone Ruby."

There wasn't a hint of purple in her eyes

Yang let out a deep sigh

"I'm sorry Ruby, I'm glad you're awake, I just need some time to myself"

Ruby's head was spinning. This wasn't her sister she was talking to, it was like somebody had taken Yang, and took away her cheery smile, lame jokes, and infectious optimism, and just left a shell of her sister.

Acknowledging her sister's request, Ruby began to leave. Pausing at the door she turned back to see Yang again staring out the window.

"Yang…I love you."

Ruby felt tears forming in her eyes as nothing but silence followed her statement. She headed back to her room and sat down on her Beowulf-patterned bed.

Then the tears began in earnest.


End file.
